Fishing closure to protect beachgoers and great whites

An immediate end to the fishing for great white shark juveniles between Stockton and Hawks Nest Beaches was announced today.

The ban relates to the use of heavy fishing equipment, the use of fishing lines with a wire trace, and the use of baits weighing more than 200 grams.

The ban extends from the shoreline between the northern breakwater of the Hunter River at Stockton, to the Big Gibber north of Hawks Nest, and extends 500 metres out to sea.

It will not affect the legitimate operations of other commercial and recreational fishers.

Several fishers have been catching and releasing juvenile great white sharks by using a surfboard to swim salmon baits out to sharks, and then landing them from a chair mounted on a vehicle.

Actively attracting great white sharks to beaches is highly dangerous for the fishers and other users of the beach.

Sharks are known to be territorial creatures, and actively catching sharks and bringing them to shore puts swimmers, surfers and beachgoers at grave risk.

This type of activity is also potentially harmful to the sharks, which are a protected species and should not be targeted by anglers.

There have been claims that the fishers are tagging great whites to learn more about the species, but the fishers are not scientists nor are they affiliated with any legitimate research project.

For the safety of people and the safety of this protected species, the State Government will immediately ban the fishing of great whites in the area.

The ban is effective between now and December 31, 2005, during which time the juveniles feed on schools of Australian salmon offshore of the areas.

The maximum penalty for ignoring the ban is a fine of $22,000, six months imprisonment, or both.